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London City Opera to perform in Farthing Auditorium

Janelle Silverman - Entertainment Beat

The London City Opera’s “The Merry Widow” will be presented Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Farthing Auditorium as part of this year’s Cultural Affairs Performing Arts Series.

The London City Opera, formed six years ago by Martin McEvoy, A United Kingdom artistic director and concert promoter, has presented operas and operettas throughout Europe and North America.

The company receives grants from the arts council of England and is supported by the British Foundation for Sport and Arts. They have performed Charity Opera Galas, which members of England’s royalty have attended, and have won several honors and awards from their supporters, according to an online resource posted by The Metropolitan Opera, courtesy of Opera News.

The company became a success in North America in 1999 with their performance of “Die Fledermaus.” They toured again with a production of “The Magic Flute”in 2000 and in 2001 with “Carmen,”according to an Office of Cultural Affairs press release.

According to Ringler, the company has two main touring seasons in the United Kingdom and has been invited to perform at many music festivals and in important theaters, said Denise Ringler, director of marketing and public relations for the Office of Cultural Affairs. The company’s production of “The Merry Widow” will be shown in 50 North American cities.

“We love to present opera as part of the series,” said Ringler. She said they want to prove opera is not a long and boring show but exactly the opposite.

Ringler said the performance, even though it will be sung in English, will still show English supertitles above the stage. Supertitles consist of a ticker tape running across a screen on the stage, which shows an English translation to the words being sung in the opera.

“Although the opera will be performed in English, it is sometimes still hard to make out the words,” said Ringler. “It helps the audience follow the plot.”

“The Merry Widow,” written by Franz Lehar, begins in the Pontevedrian embassy in Paris during the year 1905. Widow Hanna Glawari, whose husband has recently died, is left with a fortune and most of the Pontevedro economy in her hands. Whomever the widow chooses to marry will be given the entire fortune and thus gain control of the country’s economy. The Baron Mirko Zeta is nervous that the widow will choose to marry a foreigner, thus ruining the country’s economy.

Throughout the operetta, three acts evolve in which schemes are unfolded concerning who will be the lucky man to gain the widow’s wealth and which reveal the baron’s plans to make sure the fortune falls into the right hands.

The operetta, which is an opera composed of dancing, romance, acting and dialogue, aspires to show the opera was created for entertainment, with the ability to move the audience emotionally, according to the press release.

Ringler explained the opera was picked to be a part of the series because the company performed a wonderful rendition of “The Magic Flute” in Boone a few years ago in which student attendance was good. The quality and credibility of the company was also a factor. “I think people will really enjoy it,” said Ringler.

Tickets may be ordered in advance or over the phone by calling the Farthing Auditorium Box Office at 262-4046 or toll free at 800-841-ARTS.